Cruise ship Nippon Maru is slated for retirement next year after 35 years of service. MOL Cruises-headquartered in Tokyo which operates its cruise brand Mitsui Ocean Cruises will retire its cruise ship on May 10, 2026, with a cruise returning to Yokohama.
Takeshi Hashimoto, president/CEO of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), announced the ship’s upcoming retirement on Thursday.
The ship first entered service in 1990 and has since sailed 5,332,383.964 km, or about 133 times around the globe, on over 2,000 cruises, MOL said, calling at over 400 ports in Japan and other countries, and welcoming more than 600,000 guests aboard.
Active for 35 years, the ship underwent refurbishments and renewals in 2010 and 2020.
Japanese shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) said Nippon Maru itineraries and events after February 2026 will be announced as soon as they are finalized.
During the last cruise, the ship will offer special dinners featuring seasonal ingredients from the ports of call associated with the cruise and “small gifts as a token of the company’s appreciation.”
Mitsui Ocean Cruises is the brand of the cruise line in Japan MOL Cruises and is part of the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) group of companies. It also operates the Nippon Maru, and in December 2024, it began operation of the Mitsui Ocean Fuji.
